Does ‘by your stripes I am healed’ refer to physical healing?
Question 7079
Isaiah 53:5 declares, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” This verse, particularly the phrase about healing through Christ’s wounds (often rendered “by his stripes we are healed”), is frequently quoted in discussions about divine healing. But what does this healing actually refer to? Is Isaiah promising physical healing through Christ’s atonement, or is something else in view?
The Context of Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53 sits within the fourth and final “Servant Song” (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Old Testament. These verses, written about 700 years before Jesus’ birth, describe the suffering and triumph of God’s Servant with such detail that it reads like an eyewitness account of Calvary.
The context is crucial. Isaiah has been describing Israel’s rebellion and God’s promised redemption. Chapter 52 begins with God’s promise to redeem Jerusalem, and verses 13-15 introduce the Servant who will accomplish this redemption, though not in the way people expect. The Servant will be “high and lifted up” (52:13), yet His appearance will be “marred, beyond human semblance” (52:14). This paradox of exaltation through suffering sets the stage for chapter 53’s detailed description.
Isaiah 53 then explains why the Servant must suffer: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53:6). The Servant suffers not for His own sins; He “had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” (53:9), but as a substitute bearing the sins of others. This is the heart of the atonement: the righteous One dying for the unrighteous.
What Kind of Healing?
When Isaiah 53:5 says “with his wounds we are healed,” what healing is in view? The immediate context makes clear that the primary reference is to spiritual healing, healing from sin and its consequences.
Look at the parallel structure of the verse: “He was pierced for our transgressions” corresponds to “he was crushed for our iniquities,” and “the chastisement that brought us peace” corresponds to “with his wounds we are healed.” The entire verse is describing what Christ’s suffering accomplished in bearing our sins. The “transgressions” and “iniquities” in the first part of the verse define what we’re being healed from in the second part.
Verse 4 reinforces this interpretation: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” The Hebrew words translated “griefs” (ḥŏlî) and “sorrows” (mak’ōḇ) can refer to physical sickness, but in this context, they clearly refer to the consequences of sin. We know this because the verse continues: “yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” The Servant bears these griefs by suffering God’s judgment against sin.
Verse 6 makes the meaning unmistakable: “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The griefs He bears, the wounds that heal us, all relate to dealing with our sin problem. This is spiritual healing; reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, restoration of relationship with our Creator we had rejected.
The New Testament Application
The New Testament’s use of Isaiah 53:5 confirms this interpretation. Peter quotes this very passage in his first epistle: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Notice what Peter emphasises: Christ bore our sins so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. The healing Peter describes is explicitly healing from sin’s power and guilt. Peter is explaining what the prophecy meant all along. The healing promised in Isaiah 53:5 is primarily spiritual healing: salvation from sin.
[As a side note: In ‘Foundations of Pentecostal Theology’ page 36, it says that Peter is using the Greek word ἰάομαι, which ALWAYS means physical healing in the New Testament. This is factual incorrect. This same Greek verb is used in Matthew 13:15, Acts 28:27. Luke 4:18, and here in 1 Peter 2:24. It cannot mean physical healing as the context clearly implies. There are many places in the Bible where it does, especially when Jesus is healing someone e.g. Luke 5:17, 22:51, but not always, as claimed.]
Consider how consistently the New Testament presents Christ’s death as dealing with our sin problem. Romans 5:8 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Colossians 2:14 describes how Christ cancelled “the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Hebrews 9:28 states that “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
The entire biblical narrative from Genesis 3 to the end focuses on Christ’s death as the solution to humanity’s fundamental problem: our sin and separation from God. Physical ailments are symptoms of living in a fallen world under the curse of sin, but they’re not the root disease. The root disease is our rebellion against God and the death sentence that rebellion carries.
What About Physical Healing?
This doesn’t mean Christ’s atonement has nothing to do with physical healing. Matthew 8:16-17 records Jesus healing many who were sick and then states, “This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.'” Matthew is quoting Isaiah 53:4, showing that Christ’s healing ministry did have connection to His atoning work.
But notice the timing. Matthew describes Jesus’ healing ministry during His earthly life, before the crucifixion. Jesus’ healings demonstrated His messianic identity and His authority over the consequences of the fall, including disease. They were signs of the kingdom He came to establish and foretastes of the ultimate restoration to come.
More importantly, physical healing in the present age, when it occurs, is a derivative blessing of the atonement rather than the primary promise. Christ died to reconcile us to God, to forgive our sins, to give us eternal life. In doing so, He purchased ultimate redemption for the whole person; the physical and the spiritual. When He returns, believers will receive resurrection bodies free from all sickness, pain, and death (1 Corinthians 15:42-44; Revelation 21:4). That’s the complete healing His atonement guarantees.
In this present age, God sometimes heals believers physically as a foretaste of that ultimate healing. James 5:14-15 encourages believers to pray for the sick, and God certainly does heal in response to prayer. But this isn’t the healing Isaiah 53:5 primarily promises. If physical healing were guaranteed in the atonement for this present age, no believer would ever remain sick or die of disease but Scripture shows us that godly people do suffer illness (2 Timothy 4:20; Philippians 2:27).
The Danger of Misapplication
When people claim that Isaiah 53:5 guarantees physical healing in the atonement for all believers now, several problems arise. First, it places the emphasis where Scripture doesn’t place it. The passage is about dealing with sin, not promising universal physical healing in this age.
Second, it can bring tremendous false guilt and discouragement to believers who remain sick despite prayer and faith. If healing is guaranteed in the atonement and available through faith, then continued sickness must indicate lack of faith or hidden sin. This disgusting and cruel logic has caused immense suffering to believers who are already dealing with illness.
Third, it can distract from the true miracle of the atonement. Spiritual healing; forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, eternal life, is the greater miracle. A person who receives physical healing but remains spiritually dead is still lost (only one of the ten lepers returned – Luke 17:11-19). A person who remains sick but receives spiritual healing through Christ has gained everything that matters eternally.
Which matters more? Having a healthy body for 70 years and then facing eternal judgment, or having a weak body for 70 years but being forgiven, adopted as God’s child, and receiving an eternal glorified body? Isaiah 53 promises the latter with certainty. It doesn’t promise the former in this present age, though God sometimes graciously gives it.
Conclusion
Isaiah 53:5’s promise “by his wounds we are healed” refers primarily and primarily to spiritual healing from sin. This is what the context demands, what the parallel structure indicates, and what the New Testament confirms. Peter explicitly applies the healing to our spiritual condition: dying to sin and living to righteousness.
Jesus died to deal with our deepest need; our sin and separation from God. In doing so, He purchased complete redemption, which includes our bodies. When He returns, believers will experience the full healing His atonement purchased, receiving resurrection bodies free from all sickness, pain, and death.
Meanwhile, God sometimes heals believers physically in this age as a foretaste of that ultimate healing. We should certainly pray for healing, as James instructs. But our confidence isn’t in claiming a promise that isn’t there. Our confidence is in the promise that is clearly there; through Christ’s wounds, we are healed spiritually, forgiven completely, and guaranteed eternal life in glorified bodies when He returns.
That’s a far greater promise than temporal physical healing. Let’s not miss the treasure by focusing on the wrapping paper.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24
